Chinese Communist Revolution Flashcards
1
Q
China’s Need for Reform
A
- Losing Sino-Japanese War triggered a period of introspection at the heart of the dynasty.
- Compounded by the quest of imperial powers for greater concessions following military loss
2
Q
Sino-Japanese War
A
- (1894-1895)
- Placed separate trajectories of China and Japan after their contact with the west
- Clash of interests between the self-confident and assured Meji Japan and the conservative Qing Dynasty over Korea
- Japan won
- China changes the foreigner more than the foreigner changes China
3
Q
“Hundred Days of Reform”
A
- June-September 1898
- Staunchly resisted by Cixi the Dowager Empress (1835-1908) and crushed the reform movement
- Cixi wanted to let the barbarians kill each other off
4
Q
Boxer Rebellion
A
- (1899-1901)
- Brewed by countryside discussions
- China has a long history of peasant rebellions
- Boxers were a militant group upset with foreigners in China
- Boxers were upset with the treaties the western powers made China sign in 1842 and earlier on (treaties forcing China to trade and be “forced open”)
- Treaties were caused from Britain’s “Nemesis” bombarding Chinese sea-side cities
- Boxers killed foreigners and Chinese Christians
- Boxers go to Peking (current day Beijing) and places foreign embassies under siege
- Qing Dynasty makes costly decision to back the Boxers and declare war on foreign powers
5
Q
Result of Boxer Rebellion
A
- Triggers worse case scenario
- Foreign powers unite (France, Britain, USA, Russia, Japan, Italy)
- Come to Beijing and relieve siege
- Imperial court flees to the countryside
- Multi-national force leads to further petition in China
- Accelerates Chinese discussion
6
Q
Sun Yat-sen
A
- (1866-1925)
- Medical doctor
- Educated thinker in revolutionary politics, had many failed attempts before the fall of the Qing
- Qing almost catch him
- Britain helps him get relased
7
Q
The Three People’s Principles
A
- First line of Chinese national anthem
- Principle of Minzu refers to nationalism, populism, and the people’s rule/government by the people
- Principle of Minquan refers to democracy, and the people’s power
- Principle of Minsheng refers to the people’s welfare/livelihood, and a kind of social welfare
8
Q
Chinese Republican Revolution
A
- October 9, 1911
- Qing will launch a desperate plan to reform the Empire by centralizing power back into the hands of the government but will be hampered by financial weaknesses
- Begins as an accident in the city of Wuhan
- Revolutionaries plan violent demonstrations and make bombs and accidentally blow up a butcher shop
- After rebels seize control of the city, they invite others to join them
- Qing finds out conspiracy and revolutionaries
- Rebels declare allegiance to the Chinese Republic
- Rebels try to save themselves, and the commander flees
- Qing authority falls apart, and in late November power leaks out of Beijing
- No one thought the Qing would be defeated
- Foreign powers thought they’d keep Qing in power, but foreign powers are distracted elsewhere
- Empress Dowager Longyu asks Yuan Shikai (1859-1916) to save the imperial family and restore order
- Yuan Shikai asks the Empress to pledge allegiance to the Republic
- China becomes a Republic by decree of Empress Dowager Longyu on February 1912
9
Q
Troubles of the Early Republic
A
- Qing government followed by a series of weaker central governments
- Sun Yat-sen declares himself as governer
- Sun Yat-sen merges several smaller parties to form the Guomindang (GMD) on August 25, 1912 to oppose Yuan Shikai’s government in elections
- GMD win an overwhelming majority in the first National Assembly election (December 1912) but Yuan Shikai ignores the parliament
10
Q
Influence of WWI
A
- Japan declares war on Germany
- Revival of Japanese imperialism
- Japan gives Twenty-One Demands to China on January 8, 1915. This is known as National Humiliation Day in China
- Yuan Shikai dies in 1916
- Warlord Era (1916-1928) descends China into chaos
- China declares war on Germany on August 1917
- They do this because of American and Britain offering them a seat at the negotiation table once they win
- Woodrow Wilson’s 17 points at The Paris Peace Conference stimulates Chinese nationalism because Japan is given all German possessions and the Shangdong Peninsula, and Italy retains the port of Tianjin (acquired following the Boxer Rebellion)
- This leads to the May the Fourth Movement
11
Q
May the Fourth Movement
A
- May 4th, 1919
- Nationalist outpouring
- 3,000 students form the May the Fourth Movement
- Attack on Confucianism
- May the Fourth Movement isn’t effective, and the revival of Chinese nationalism creates the conditions for the formation of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
12
Q
Chinese Communist Party
A
- July 1921 in Shanghai
- Feared that China is too weak and backwards
- China requires a model to make it rich and strong
- Communists see that model being provided by the USSR, and the Bolshevik Revolution
- Although they reject Confucianism, they are products of Confucian culture. Self-sacrifice, social equality etc.
- Lenin and the Bolsheviks didn’t like the Peace of Paris meeting
- Lenin offered for people to join Marxism and Leninism
- GMD and CCP merge in 1923
- In exchange, Soviets send aid and secure alliance
- Soviet support turns GMD into a power
- GMD division between left and right factions
- Chinese military general believes Soviet’s plans pose a great threat
- Bites his tongue because of the aid and support
- Sun Yat-sen dies on March 25, 1925 creates an opportunity for Chinese nationalists
13
Q
May the Thirtieth Movement
A
- Shanghai May 30, 1925
- Strikes, boycotts, and riots
- Martyrdom of Sun Yat-sen
- Political chaos in the North
- Soviet support
14
Q
Northern Expedition
A
- (July 27, 1926-1928)
- An attempt tp reunify China
- Three thrusts
- Force under Wang Jingwei to Wuhan in central China
- Force under Chiang Kai-shek to Nanjing
- Third force to Shanghai
- Jingwei captures Wuhan in January 1927 and declares that the Nationalist government is setting up there
- Chiang Kai-shek reaches Nanjing in March and moves against Jingwei and leftists within the GMD
- 25,000 are killed in a matter of days including most of the leadership of the CCP
- Mao Zedong and a handful of survivors flee to the mountains
- Begins the First Chinese Civil War (1928-1937)
15
Q
Rise of Mao Zedong
A
- 1927 coup against the CCP drives them underground and Chiang Kai-shek appears firmly in control
- Moves capital city to Ninjang because it has the strongest military presence, and begins implementing series of reforms like centralizing control
- Chiang Kai-shek’s power is limited due to Warlords controlling large amounts of area compared to the government
- This results in weak tax collection and weak military recruitment
- Chiang Kai-shek appeases the warlords and creates alliances providing the opportunity for Mao Zedong to gradually emerge as the leader of the CCP
- Mao Zedong had a conservative father whom he disagreed with, and claimed to learn rebellion from his father
- Joined a militant group at 18 years old
- Went to a teacher’s college in 1916 and got his degree
- Urged CCP to turn Marxist theory on it’s head, and mobilize the revolutionary potential of the peasantry, and use guerilla warfare as well as forced land redistribution
- This was known as Doctrine of “People’s War”
- Created the Red Army to resist the GMD
- By early 1930’s, CCP claims control of several million people
